On Your Shield

One might say that Hastur prepared us for what came next.

"Watch, all, and learn." he said. "Set up one tent and all the cots, and nothing else you can't leave behind."

Well, we only had the one tent. I wasn't sure about the others, but I wasn't leaving behind any of the cots. If only we'd known.

We watched ten times our number descend on half of that. From the ridge, it looked a lot like the day before. Two firebolts, and their priests went back to mundane weapons.

Our left charged first, perhaps goaded by their officer.

"Is he an idiot?" Naggar asked. "He's two thirds ranged troops."

Rebis coughed blood on him. "Watch. Learn. Talk afterward."

When one of the messengers came toward us, we knew hope. That faded quickly as even the black hair of the horse failed to conceal the amount of blood he was leaking.